British MPs urge NATO to adjust for Russian "ambiguous warfare"London (AFP) July 31, 2014 -
NATO is not prepared to deal with a military threat from Russia and must adjust to be able to respond to an "unconventional attack", British lawmakers warned on Thursday.

"The risk of attack by Russia on a Nato member state, whilst still small, is significant. We are not convinced that Nato is ready for this threat," said Rory Stewart, chair of the cross-party Defence Committee.

A report by the committee urged the 28-country alliance to put permanent troops and military equipment in Baltic member nations Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and for headquarters to be established in the region.

It came as the European Union and the United States imposed their toughest sanctions on Russia since the Cold War, accusing Moscow of failing to de-escalate conflict in eastern Ukraine.

The report described developments in Ukraine as a "wake-up call" that has revealed "alarming deficiencies in the state of Nato preparedness".

"A Russian unconventional attack, using asymmetric tactics - the latest term for this is 'ambiguous warfare' - designed to slip below Nato's response threshold, would be particularly difficult to counter," the report said.

It said tactics such as the use of cyber-attacks and irregular militias should be included under NATO's founding principle, Article 5, under which all members are bound to aid any member which is attacked.

The report called on the British government to use a September NATO summit in Wales to "lead the reordering of Nato" and drive changes to deal with a threat from Russia.

"The Nato alliance has not considered Russia as an adversary or a potential territorial threat to its member states for 20 years," said the report.

"It is now forced to do so as a result of Russia's recent actions."

A NATO spokeswoman said the report would be carefully studied, and that the alliance had already acted to up defences, and that an "action-plan" would be discussed at the September summit.

"Nato has already taken measures to reinforce collective defence, especially for our Eastern allies, with more planes in the air, more ships at sea, and more exercises on the ground," the spokeswoman said.

NATO is not ready to deal with a military attack by Russia on a member state and must adjust to the unconventional tactics seen in Ukraine, British lawmakers warned Thursday.

The conflict in eastern Ukraine was a "wake-up call" for the 28-nation alliance, which had become complacent, Britain's parliamentary defence committee said in a report.

It said NATO had failed to adapt to Moscow's increasing use of "ambigous warfare", such as cyber attacks and local militias backed by Russian special forces.

The report also urged the alliance to station troops permanently in Baltic member nations Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, saying they were particularly vulnerable.

"The risk of attack by Russia on a NATO member state, whilst still small, is significant. We are not convinced that NATO is ready for this threat," said committee chairman Rory Stewart.

"NATO has been too complacent about the threat from Russia, and it is not well-prepared," added Stewart, a former soldier and diplomat in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Balkans.

NATO -- which is due to hold a summit in Wales in September -- said it would study the report.

The warning comes after the EU and US imposed their toughest sanctions on Russia since the Cold War, accusing Moscow of failing to defuse the conflict in eastern Ukraine and failing to help with access to the site of downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

Western nations say Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine's troubled east likely shot down the plane with a missile.

- 'Ambigous warfare' -

The British report said NATO was "currently not well-prepared for a Russian threat against a NATO member state".

"A Russian unconventional attack, using asymmetric tactics -- the latest term for this is 'ambiguous warfare' -- designed to slip below NATO's response threshold, would be particularly difficult to counter.

"Events in Ukraine this year, following on from the cyber attack on Estonia in 2007 and the invasion of Georgia by Russia in 2008, are a 'wake-up call' for NATO. They have revealed alarming deficiencies in the state of NATO preparedness, which will be tough to fix."

The report recommended that the use of cyber-attacks and irregular militias should be included under NATO's founding principle, Article 5, under which all members are bound to aid any member which is attacked.

The British government should use the September NATO summit to drive changes to deal with a threat from Russia, the committee added.

"The NATO alliance has not considered Russia as an adversary or a potential territorial threat to its member states for 20 years," said the report. "It is now forced to do so as a result of Russia's recent actions."

Stewart said the transatlantic alliance had to expand from its current focus on terror and failed states to deal with a Russian threat using a different set of tactics to the Cold War.

"The instability in Russia, president Putin's world-view, and the failure of the West to respond actively in Ukraine means that we now have to address urgently the possibility -- however small -- of Russia repeating such tactics elsewhere."

NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said the alliance would discuss a plan of action for Russia at the September summit.

"We have not seen the report by the UK Defence Select Committee but we'll study it carefully once it's published," she said.

"NATO has already taken measures to reinforce collective defence, especially for our Eastern allies, with more planes in the air, more ships at sea, and more exercises on the ground."

Ukraine army chief aims to wrap up offensive in next monthKiev (AFP) July 31, 2014 -
Ukraine hopes to complete the "active phase" of its military offensive against pro-Russian rebels in east Ukraine over the next month, the country's army chief said in an interview published Thursday.

"The active phase will be finished in the near future... probably in less than a month," chief of staff Viktor Muzhenko told weekly magazine Novoye Vremya.

Government forces have claimed a string of victories in recent weeks as they seized back control of a number of key towns from separatist insurgents.

The United Nations says that some 1,100 people have been killed since the start of Kiev's "anti-terrorist" operations in the eastern regions in mid-April.

Ukraine's military on Thursday called a day-long halt to its offensive across the east following a plea from UN chief Ban Ki-moon to pause fighting in order to allow a stalled probe into the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 to go ahead.

German general takes key post in US Army EuropeBerlin (AFP) July 31, 2014 -
A German army general has for the first time been appointed chief of staff to work with the commander of US ground forces in Europe, both countries' militaries said Thursday.

Brigadier General Markus Laubenthal will serve as "the right-hand man" to Lieutenant General Donald Campbell Jr, who commands more than 37,000 US Army Europe (USAREUR) personnel from headquarters in the central city of Wiesbaden, said Germany's defence ministry.

"This is a bold and major step forward in USAREUR's commitment to operating in a multinational environment with our German allies," said Campbell in a statement on Laubenthal's appointment starting next week.

After both countries had for years served together in Afghanistan, "sustaining the shared capability from this experience will benefit both US and German armies," Campbell said in a statement.

Laubenthal, previously the commander of Germany's 12th Armoured Brigade, has also served as chief of staff for ISAF Regional Command North in Afghanistan and as a Kosovo Force assistant chief of staff.

The appointment comes at a time when Berlin-Washington relations have been tarnished by allegations of US spying on its ally, which led Germany to expel the CIA station chief earlier this month.

Number of Russian troops on Ukraine border rising: NATOPristina (AFP) July 30, 2014
NATO's top commander said Wednesday that Russia was "increasing" the number of troops and weaponry along the border with Ukraine.
"The number of troops along the (Ukrainian) border is increasing. It is well over 12,000," General Philip Breedlove told reporters at the end of his one day visit to Kosovo, where he inspected the alliance's peacekeeping mission.
"The number of battalion task ... read more

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